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Topic: Carl Zimmer book (Read 1126 times)

Carl Zimmer has a new book called "She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity". Given some of the vigorous discussions on these forums about genes and heredity (and the Klein/Harris kerfuffle), I imagine it will interest a lot of people. It was just released and I haven't read it yet, but I'll be curious to hear if anyone reads it and has thoughts. Here is the NYT review:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/31/books/review/she-has-her-mothers-laugh-carl-zimmer.html

I’ve got it on preorder. It’s not released in Australia until June 12. It’s an automatic purchase for me with any of Carl Zimmer’s books, I read reviews and other readers’ opinions, but don’t give them undue weight. Reviews only exist to bring my attention to new books by authors whom I’ve previously read and consider worth ‘following’ for new titles.

This is a really great popular science book! It is very ambitious in scope, but I think it will be very interesting to SGU fans. Zimmer does a very comprehensive examination of many issues that have been vigorously debated on these forums.

This is a really great popular science book! It is very ambitious in scope, but I think it will be very interesting to SGU fans. Zimmer does a very comprehensive examination of many issues that have been vigorously debated on these forums.

Cara interviewed him about this book on Talk Nerdy a few weeks ago.

I strongly agree. I’ve read it twice, and I got information the second time I’d missed the first time. I’ll probably read it again in the next 12 months before it becomes dated (in parts).

How does this book compare to Mukherjee's recent book The Gene? Any critical info in the Zimmer book that it would have missed?

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Is the Mukherjee book good? I have, but haven’t got around to reading, his book ‘the Emperor of All Maladies.’ I must get around to doing so someday (I’m currently on a reading binge of that very large and very important literary genre of East Friesian crime novels).

I’ve just bought the audiobook version of ‘the Gene’ to listen to walking the dog and exercising in the gym (which I’ll get around to when I’ve finished listening to the current one).

I'm embarrassed that I haven't read "The Gene" yet. I've been hesitant to pick it up because it apparently includes some pretty emotionally intense issues regarding mental health issues in Mukherjee's family.

From reading reviews, though, I think I can make some guesses about how the books differ (and thus why it's probably worthwhile to read both). Zimmer's book tackles heredity as a whole, including a lot of issues involving non-genetic inheritance (e.g., Troy Day's research).

Zimmer also conveys information through profiles of historical figures and current researchers-- there are dozens featured in the book. He doesn't use the standard cast of characters, though. I'm sure Mendel and a few other key characters appear in both books, but I suspect the Venn diagram of featured scientists in the two books has a relatively small intersection.

I've also heard that Mukherjee's book focuses on medical genetics, while Zimmer's book is a little broader (more on ecology, etc.).

How does this book compare to Mukherjee's recent book The Gene? Any critical info in the Zimmer book that it would have missed?

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Is the Mukherjee book good? I have, but haven’t got around to reading, his book ‘the Emperor of All Maladies.’ I must get around to doing so someday (I’m currently on a reading binge of that very large and very important literary genre of East Friesian crime novels).

I’ve just bought the audiobook version of ‘the Gene’ to listen to walking the dog and exercising in the gym (which I’ll get around to when I’ve finished listening to the current one).

I have the audiobook. I thought it was very good. You will enjoy it.

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